A Trip to Toronto, the Sights and Smells of the Big City

It's Fall in Toronto!

Over the past week and a bit, I took some time to go to Toronto. I was heading there to visit with my sister and brother in law who have moved into a new house and are soon to be having a baby. I was of course able to do some sight seeing and spent a lot of time with the family but the main reason I went was to help out around the house and cook for everyone. I don’t often get to cook for family or larger groups so this was a real treat for me. I visited markets and stores, dined out at fun restaurants and cafes, picked speciality ingredients, made classics and experimented with new flavors. I was able to really expand what I normally do and came up with some wonderful ideas that I hope to share over the next while with you on this site. Here are some of the pictures I took on my trip and a quick recipe for White Chocolate, Cranberry Brownie Cookies.

The unbelievable St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto is a foodie paradise,
everything you can imagine under one roof.

The food vendors there sell some exceptional eats, from the pickle juice cured bacon wrapped in cornmeal Toronto is famous for, to this monstrous breaded and fried eggplant parmigiana sandwich. Unbelievable.

The variety of ingredients available was truly staggering, from Canadian and exotic cheeses to cured meats, dry ingredients of every type from all corners of the world, the freshest seafood and meats, artisan products made with care, teas and coffees and everything else I could imagine. I wandered lost just trying to narrow my focus down to what I would cook that night.

I could cook with this.....

I could try and cook this.....

I don`t know if I could cook with this.....

From Coleman Cupcakes: my sister`s on the side company.

Dinner at Barque Smokehouse was a
highlight, one of many platters: Dry rub
Pork Ribs, Brisket, Cuban Corn,
Merguez Sausage and
Smoked Chicken.

The Spinach Speatzle was an unexpected treat, fried
with mushrooms, red pepper and topped with a
Parmesan crisp, it was a light side to a heavy meal.

Markets were everywhere, at town halls and shopping malls, producers
from all over Ontario flocked their wares. I had unlimited inspiration.

Did you know that brussel sprouts grew on stocks like in this picture? If possible buy them this way so they stay as fresh as possible. Like spinach or turnips, brussel sprouts suffer from our bad childhood memories where they were over boiled and under seasoned for the most part. Try them sauteed with bacon and mushrooms and you'll wonder why you hated them for so long.

Toronto has strong worldwide cultural roots and because of this wonderful bakeries seem to exist on every corner. You can find traditional French, German and eastern European pastries everywhere.

White Chocolate, Cranberry Brownie Cookies

I originally got this recipe off the back of a package of chocolate chips and adjusted it, tweaked it and made it my own. I baked these a few times while I was in Toronto to have on hand whenever we needed a snack. They also freeze well in uncooked balls of dough or they can be kept in the fridge ready to be baked for up to 4 days.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup butter

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

2 ¼ cup flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

4 tbsp milk

225g white chocolate chips

1 ½ cup dried cranberries or cherries

Method:

• In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugars for a few minutes until well mixed and smooth.
• Add the two eggs and vanilla one by one, beating well each time.
• In a separate bowl, mix flour, cocoa, soda and salt together.
• Slowly beat in the flour mix into the butter mix in three batches. After each batch, pour in a tbsp or so of the milk. The consistency should be thick and scoopable.
• By spoon, mix in the chips and dried fruit. Keep mixing until they are all evenly distributed.
• In a preheated 350⁰ oven, bake tbsp sized rounds on a sheet for about 10 mins. The color of the cookie makes it hard to see when they are done. Don’t over bake or you will lose the brownie texture you are looking for.
• The cookies will keep for only 3 days or so before they get crumbly.